The early morning sunlight filters through the curtains, casting a gentle warmth over William and Aelita as they sleep peacefully in their hotel room. The soft hum of the air conditioning creates a serene backdrop for their restful slumber. But abruptly, the tranquility is shattered by the shrill ringing of Aelita's phone. Groggily, she fumbles for it on the nightstand, not wanting to fully open her eyes.
"Hello?" Her voice is raspy and thick with fatigue.
"Aelita, it's Jeremie. XANA alert. You need to get to the factory immediately. It's bad."
She groans and falls back onto the bed. "What is it this time?"
"XANA is attacking transportation infrastructure. He's already taken over the traffic lights and is starting to work his way into the train and bus systems. Herve and I are doing our best to hold him back but you need to get to the factory ASAP, before he makes his way into the airport's systems too."
"What a wonderful way to be woken up after a long night. Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can."
"What do you mean a long night? And who's we? Sissi is already on her way, so I know you're not with her." He pauses as he tries to comprehend his own sentence. "Wait, where are you right now?"
"Um... William and I, uh... we spent the night at a hotel in the city."
"You did what? Why...?"
"It's a long story. Look, we're not too far away. We'll be there as soon as we can."
"Fine. Just hurry."
Aelita hangs up the phone and sighs.
"What's going on?" William asks, propping himself up on his elbows.
"XANA attack. We need to get to the factory."
"Fucking hell. Alright, let's go."
William and Aelita both leap out of bed and throw on the extra clothes William thankfully brought for them in a duffel bag before check-in, and run out the door. They run down the emergency stairs and out one of the back doors of the building. Their footsteps echo through the Parisian back alleys. They can tell the city is uncharacteristically loud—there's horns honking and sirens blaring from every direction.
"What the fuck is going on?" William asks, his brow furrowed.
"Apparently, XANA's messing with the traffic lights, probably to cause mass panic," Aelita responds, her voice tense. "He's already hitting the bus and rail networks, so we need to move fast, or else rush hour gridlock will be the least of the city's worries."
They take a risky bet and sprint to the nearest subway station and frantically push their way through the crowd of confused commuters. They manage to squeeze onto a train just before the doors close, and they breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank God," Aelita whispers.
"Yeah," William replies, his voice equally quiet.
The long train ride is tense, the air thick with anxiety. Much to the passengers' dismay, the train lurches before coming to a grinding halt in one of the tunnels.
"What is going on today? Traffic sucks on the surface, so I decided to get on a train only for it to do this," a woman says in annoyance.
"I know, right? This is ridiculous," a man responds.
William and Aelita exchange worried glances.
When the train finally arrives at their stop forty five minutes later, they quickly exit and make their way up to the surface. The streets are now in complete chaos, cars and pedestrians alike stuck in total gridlock. Horns blare, and people shout angrily.
"This is insane," Aelita shouts, eyes wide.
They start running, weaving their way through the crowded streets. They dodge angry drivers and frustrated pedestrians, their feet pounding on the pavement.
"God, my ears! If I don't have hearing loss from this, it'll be a miracle," William says with exasperation.
"Tell me about it," Aelita replies, panting.
They finally arrive at the factory, their lungs burning and their muscles aching. They head straight down to the scanner room. Once they're both in a scanner, Jeremie initializes their virtualization.
"You're headed to the Mountain Sector, you two. The rest of the team is already there, trying to ward off monsters, but it isn't going so well."
"We'll do our best, Belpois," William says with conviction.
"Good. Transfer William. Transfer Aelita. Scanner William. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization!"
William and Aelita land on the Mountain Sector a couple dozen meters away from the others.
"Glad the lovebirds could finally join us," Sissi remarks.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," William deadpans.
"Yeah, yeah, less talking, more fighting," Ulrich yells.
"Right. Sorry," William says.
Sissi grunts as she dodges a shot from a Tarantula. "There's just no end to this!"
"We need to keep pushing," Ulrich says, his voice determined.
"I'm getting tired," Aelita pants, her breath coming in short gasps. She has her wings out and is floating in the air, exhausted from flinging energy field after energy field at their enemies. "We're barely making any progress. Take one Tarantula out, XANA sends in three more."
"Aelita." Jeremie's frustration is evident through the comms. "Seems you're right. XANA is absolutely stalling for time so he can sabotage more transit systems. We have to stop him at the source - leave the fighting to the others and get to the tower STAT."
"I'll go with you," Ulrich volunteers quickly.
"Okay." Aelita waves a hand over her star-shaped watch and lands back on solid ground before breaking into a run in the direction of the tower.
Ulrich trails behind her, his eyes scanning the terrain for any other possible enemies.
"Jeremie, we're on our way to the tower," Aelita reports.
"Great. Be careful, you two. There's still a chance for XANA to send you more monsters out there."
"We will."
Almost as if on cue, a Megatank rolls onto the scene, to their right. Aelita doesn't see it as it opens up and charges a laser aimed directly at her.
"Shit!" Ulrich curses under his breath. "Super Sprint!" He sprints up to Aelita and pushes her out of the way of the Megatank blast, then turns on his heel and uses both of his sabers to block the shot and keep himself from being devirtualized. However, because he doesn't have his feet planted, the blast knocks him back and he loses his footing. He tries to plant himself, but to no avail. The blast pushes him further and further backwards until he disappears over the edge of the sector.
Horrified, Aelita screams. "Ulrich! No!" She whirls around and flings an energy field at the unsuspecting Megatank, and it explodes on impact.
William blocks a shot from the Tarantula with his sword, then turns around to see Ulrich hanging off the sector with one hand. "Fuck! Ulrich!" In an instant, without even realizing it, his heightened emotional state wordlessly activates Super Smoke, and he's there staring down at Ulrich. He plants his sword into the ground and uses it as an anchor as he reaches down to offer Ulrich a hand. "Take my hand, Stern! Hurry!"
Aelita whips around at the sound of her boyfriend's voice calling over the cliff, surprised he was able to get there without her noticing. "Did William just use Super Smoke? But how?" she whispers to herself.
Ulrich hesitates for a second, even though he feels his grip quickly loosening. How the hell did he get here so quickly?he thinks to himself.The only thing faster than my Super Sprint is... Super Smoke.He shakes his head, realizing he's wasting precious seconds. Much to his dismay, he has no choice but to take William's hand, and he is swiftly pulled up to safety.
William sighs in relief. "You alright, Stern?"
Ulrich dusts himself off. "Yeah. Thanks, Dunbar."
"No problem." William whips around to face his girlfriend. "Aelita, get to the tower! Hurry!"
"On it!" Aelita takes off running again, and when she reaches the tower, she runs into the center of the Eye and quickly makes her way up to the second platform, where the blank user interface is waiting for her to place her hand. "Tower deactivated," she tells Jeremie.
Jeremie hits the execution key. "Return to the past now!"
Of fucking course the Return to the Past brings us back to this moment, Ulrich thinks to himself.
The room is thick with tension as Ulrich and Yumi exchange heated glances. Neither one of them speaks for the time being.
Ulrich gets off his bed and paces back and forth, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "I just don't understand why you're still defending him!" he finally exclaims, his voice rising in frustration. "After everything he's done to us, how can you possibly trust him?"
Yumi, still sitting on Ulrich's bed, crosses her arms over her chest. "He's not the same person he was when we first met him, Ulrich. He's changed. You can't hold a grudge against him forever. Let's not forget exactly who saved your dumbass from falling into the Digital Sea."
Ulrich rolls his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Like I asked for his help. Besides, you seem to conveniently be forgetting the fact that he obviously Super Smoked over to me. Why would he do that if he was really on our side?"
Yumi sighs. "You were literally hanging on for dear life. And he was able to do something none of the rest of us could at the time. Which was, hmm, I don't know, save you."
"Bullshit," Ulrich spits. "He's up to something. And I'm going to figure out what it is."
"Ulrich, this is ridiculous! Can't you just stop being childish and petty for once? So what, he used Super Smoke to get to you? He did what any decent human being would do to save a teammate in danger."
Ulrich's eyes flash with anger. "Childish and petty?! There you go again with that! I'm not the one who's defending a fucking psychopath, Yumi!"
"If you really see him as a psychopath, you're just blind to the truth of who he is."
"The truth is that William is a manipulative, lying piece of shit, and I'm not going to stop until I figure out what his endgame is."
"You're being paranoid, Ulrich. William is not out to get us. He's on our side, y'know. If you want to hold onto to this childish grudge against William forever, go ahead. Be my guest. Just don't expect me to be around to watch you lose your mind over it, because this shit is borderline delusional. Either you get over it and start acting like a man, or we're done. I'm not going to keep dealing with your bullshit."
Ulrich is taken aback by Yumi's harsh words. "You're... you're choosing him over me?"
"I'm purposefully not choosing anyone, Ulrich. I'm just tired of watching you throw a tantrum over something that happened years ago. It's time to let it go and move on. William is not the same person he was back then. For starters, he's not possessed anymore. You really need to accept that and stop being so fucking stubborn."
Ulrich is silent for a moment, his mind racing. He knows deep down that Yumi is right, but he can't bring himself to admit it. "Get out."
"Excuse me?"
"I said, get out," he growls. "I can't deal with this right now."
Yumi shakes her head. "Fine. Have it your way, Ulrich. Just don't expect me to be around when you're ready to grow the fuck up and act like an adult. If that ever happens in the first place." She storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Ulrich collapses onto his bed, his head in his hands. No matter how hard he tries, he can't let go of his grudge against William. It's become a part of him, and he doesn't know how to live without it. "Fuck," he mutters, his voice muffled by his hands.
Ulrich spends the next few days moping around, doing his best to avoid the rest of the team. Especially William and Yumi. He can't bring himself to face them, not after the way he acted. Admitting he was wrong would go against his entire character.
One day, he's wandering around a small shopping district in Boulogne-Billancourt, lost in his thoughts. He needed a breather to break up the stress of his last class of the day and dealing with Odd and his antics. As he walks into a convenience store to buy himself a bottle of water, his eyes land on a magazine rack. On the cover of one of the magazines is a small thumbnail picture of William and Aelita sharing a kiss on a bridge.
"Fuck," he mutters, his heart sinking.
He picks up the magazine and flips through it, his eyes scanning the pages. He lands on a two-page spread collaged with pictures of William and Aelita, paired with an article about their relationship.
"I can't believe I was so blind," he says to himself. "I was so focused on my grudge that I didn't see how happy she was. I was so caught up in my own bullshit that I didn't see exactly how much both of them changed. I'm such a dick."
He turns to head back to the school, his mind racing. On a whim, he pulls out his phone and dials William's number.
"Hello?" William's voice is curious. "I'm assuming this isn't a social call, Stern."
"Dunbar. Are you free right now?"
"Yeah, I'm free. Are you feeling alright?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Talking some things out with you may help, though. Can we meet on the quad?"
"Alright? I'll be there in a few minutes, I guess."
Ulrich hangs up and heads back to campus, his heart pounding. He's not sure what he's going to say to William, but he knows there's a lot. As he approaches the quad, he sees William sitting on a bench, his brow furrowed as he stares off into space.
"Hey," Ulrich says, his voice hesitant.
"Yo," William replies, his own voice cautious. "What's this about, Stern?"
"Thanks for meeting me. I know things have been... tense between us."
"That's one way to put it." William chuckles, but it's void of any amusement. "Just cut to the chase, Stern."
"Look, William, I'm sorry. I've been an asshole to you, and I have no right to treat you the way I do. You don't deserve that."
William is quiet for a moment, he narrows his eyes at his teammate. "Ulrich, seriously. Do you need help? What's happening here?"
"I'm really trying to figure that out myself. Frankly, I came without any plan and I'm just winging it. All I know is that I want to apologize for everything, man. Not trusting you. Not supporting you and Aelita. For beating you up. All of it. I'm sorry."
William listens to Ulrich with a thoughtful expression. "Apology accepted. But I have to ask, why the sudden change of heart?"
Ulrich sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I was off campus earlier and read a magazine article about you and Aelita. In the pictures, you guys looked really happy, and it made me realize that I was being a dick for no reason. I was so blinded by my own bullshit that I didn't see how much she's changed since breaking up with Jeremie."
"You're not the only one who's been an asshole, you know. I haven't exactly been a saint either. There were things I could've handled better, too."
"Yeah, but I was the one who started it. I couldn't separate you from your possession. You became XANA to me and I only saw you like that. Combine that with the fact I was so bitter about how she and Jeremie broke up that I couldn't see how happy she was with you and you've got a recipe for disaster."
William chuckles, genuinely this time. "Well, I'm glad you finally came to your senses. I was starting to think you were never going to."
Ulrich laughs. "Yeah, me too. I'm sorry, William. I really am."
"I appreciate you really apologizing, it means a lot. I don't know how much I can forgive you, but this made it easier."
"Frankly, I wasn't expecting you to forgive me. But I just wanted to get all of this off my chest. Man to man."
The two men sit in silence for a few moments, the weight of their conversation hanging in the air.
William breaks the silence. "I do have one more question for you, though."
"What's that?"
"You mentioned an article... what article? I don't know about any article."
"In some trashy tabloid. Bavard Extraordinaire, I think. You know how they have one big image as the main cover photo, and then a bunch of smaller images? The two of you are one of the smaller images on the cover. You're kissing on a bridge."
William's eyes widen. "Shit. You're joking." He hides his face in his hands and groans.
"I'm guessing this means Aelita doesn't know about it either?"
"Unless she hears about it from Sissi, she probably doesn't. Fuck. I'm going to have to tell her. I don't want her finding out from someone else."
"I'm sure she'll understand. It's not like you had anything to do with it."
"Yeah, but it's still going to be awkward. I don't want her to think I'm some kind of fame whore or something, just parading her around like a trophy to show off."
Ulrich scoffs. "You and I both know she knows you better than that. She wouldn't think that about you."
"Yeah. You're right, I guess." William sighs heavily. "Anyway, I have to get going. It was nice to actually have a conversation with you for once, Ulrich." He extends his hand.
"You're right." Ulrich shakes it. "It was, William."
William walks away towards his dorm building, his mind racing back to this supposed article. He's not sure how Aelita is going to react to the news, but he knows he has to tell her. He just hopes she'll understand. It might be smart to see what Bastien thinks, he thinks to himself as he walks. When he gets to his room, Bastien is there studying. William plops down on his bed and sighs heavily.
"You alright, bro?" Bastien asks, his brow furrowing.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... got some news I need to tell Aelita about and I'm trying to formulate a way to tell her."
"What kind of news? You're not sterile, are you?"
"Very funny, Roux," William says flatly. "Apparently there's an article about us in some trashy tabloid."
Bastien grins. "Oh, you mean this?" He whips out a copy of Bavard Extraordinaire and waves it around. "I saw it and just had to rub it in your face. Picked it up on my way back from class."
"Gimme that!" William snatches the magazine from his roommate and stares at the cover, his eyes widening. "Son of a bitch!"
"Yeah, it's quite the picture, isn't it? You guys're lookin' pretty cozy." Bastien says, his grin widening. "My roommate is famous—imagine that!"
"Roux. If you don't shut the fuck up, I will murder you," William growls.
"Alright, alright. Shutting up. Just be careful, Dunbar. You're a celebrity now. You've got to start thinking about your image. You can't just go around killing people, especially not your oh-so-handsome roommate."
William rolls his eyes. "Why am I friends with you?"
The Seine's Sweethearts: Soccer Sensation William Dunbar's Riverbank Romance!
By Bavard Extraordinaire
PARIS, FRANCE - It seems the love bug has bitten our beloved soccer sensation, William Dunbar, as he was recently spotted on a sizzling date night in the City of Love. The enchanting streets of Paris bore witness to this romantic rendezvous, leaving no doubt that our star striker has found someone special.
William Dunbar, who is renowned for his soccer skills, proved he's also a pro when it comes to matters of the heart. Onlookers couldn't help but be entranced as he strolled through the softly illuminated Parisian avenues, hand in hand with his lovely, pink-haired companion.
The atmosphere was nothing short of enchanting, with the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the distance, lending an air of magic to the night. The couple shared whispers, laughter, and moments of pure connection, perhaps discussing their shared future.
But what about the identity of William's mysterious paramour? That remains a well-guarded secret, adding an air of intrigue to the pair's budding romance. The world may be wondering who she is, but there's no doubt that they make a captivating couple.
The paparazzi caught the lovebirds sharing a kiss on a moonlit bridge, sealing their romance beneath the stars. Is this the beginning of something extraordinary for William Dunbar and his charming partner?
Whether it's true love or a fleeting romance, the "Riverbank Romance" of William Dunbar is bound to remain etched in our hearts for a long time.